Nine's World
by AliesB
Summary: Donna and Pete have one. Could the Ninth regeneration of the Doctor have one too, if he changed his mind so drasticly that the outcome would change his timeline? Doctor/Rose.
1. Introduction

Time sure is a weird thing. It can change in every possible way. Every possible decision creates it's own world; it's own universe. You can turn left in major decisions in order to save what you love. But what if you dare to turn right in those tiny decisions where you used to laugh at yourself when only thinking about it?

The doctor was a man of many years. In the centuries he had passed he had had many companions on board of his TARDIS; traveling through time and space to save the world. All of them were unique. All of them were special. All of them were needed in times of battle to help him save the day, or even to save the day on their own. All of them had a place in his heart.

Every single one of them hurted him so badly; yet unable for his two hearts to bleed to death. How could one single man handle the loss of so many of his true friends, knowing that he lived a life ten times longer than the life they could ever possibly live? Goodbye's with humans, leaving his perfect blue police box, were so permanent. The doctor just had to close his eyes; just one small blink, and they were gone. Having lived those long years made the humanlifetime seem so precious and so unbelievable short. Them leaving his side nearly destroyed him, yet he invited future heartbreakers to join him in his TARDIS. How he much he hated the end of their travels; he could never handle being all alone.

But sometimes he wished he hadn't met this one single girl to invite. Sometimes he wished he had listened to the voice in his head that said straight from the beginning; _Don't you dare inviting her in. Not with the true intentions of your heart._ How had he hoped, prayed that this single girl wouldn't return the feelings he had for her. How much he forced himself to believe that she really didn't.

Sometimes he wished he had never said this single word, that made the burden, called time, even more painful.

_Run..._

_**The Meeting**_

_It was the first time I held your hand. _

_It felt like I was in shock._

_I could barely move a lit._

_Like the fingers of a clock. _

_Still we kept on running._

_While the wind blew through your hair._

_And when we slowed our pace again_

_I thought it was not fair._

_Deep inside I was struggling_

_To release your lovely hand._

_I knew I had to run away._

_But even today, I know I can't_


	2. Behind Bars

The Doctor had always known, from the very beginning, that it was this one single word that had started it all. A chain of chemical reactions; starting to reveil the things he had never thought possible. That single word would change his whole life and together his whole view on the purpose of existance.

_Run..._

Ofcourse, if he had choosen another word to introduce his precence it might have had the same impact. But since this wasn't the fact, he was doomed to fight between the opinions about the results of this word.

_Run..._

Maybe _he _should have ran away. He had been warned by billions of stories. It wasn't a suprise it was about to take him as the next victum. But yet it did suprise him. In his full eight regenerations he had never fallen in love so easily. How was he ever able to believe in stories about love at first sight, when he, as a ninehundred year old man, had never witnessed it in person? And then it was there, shaped into the girl that introduced herself as the nineteen yearold Rose Tyler...

A near death experience often changes the way you looked at something precious. Being someone that should have died about eight times, but didn't, made it something that became almost common to him. But he had never hesitated to regenerate. When dead came closer he found his faith in the fact that he could start over again in an unknown body.

But this time he found his faith somewhere else. This new belief changed everything, forever. He was preparing to die.

He had only met her a couple of days ago, but yet she had been with him for two dangerous situations. Two situations, whereafter she was free to leave his precense if she wanted to. But she stayed. She had been touched by the distruction of her homeplanet. She had freed him from the plastic dummies. He thanked his life to her, as she thanked hers to him.

She asked so many things about the fantastic reality he lived in. But she never asked him if it was all true. Somehow she believed him. Somehow she trusted him, just like he somehow trusted her from the very beginning.

He knew he had been in some kind of love with her from the moment he grabbed her hand to run with him, but now his heart flamed in what could be their last moments.

Behind bars they both sat. Waiting for the death to come closer, filled with creatures that he had trusted, but turned out to be evil. If he had only followed Rose's way of thinking they would have been save. They could have been together for so much longer!

Instead he had yelled at her; claiming that she could better leave if she wasn't open for unethical options to save those creatures' lifes. He was just a dork, nothing better than those apes, he liked to call the human race. At this point maybe even worse.

While the bodies approached their hiding place he turned his head towards Rose. Her eyes were filled with fear. She began to mutter; trying to convince herself that she couldn't die because, technicly, she hadn't been born yet. And he, the doctor, had to take this faith from her, simply by knowing better.

Yet she did not cry. As if she wanted to be brave; being brave for him. As if she wanted to prove him she was okay with dieing so soon. As if she wanted him to believe that it didn't matter and there were no hard feelings. And yet the doctor knew they supossed to be there somewhere; burried deep inside of her heart. Somewhere she blaimed him for taking her to worlds where death was watching them. He was dangerous for all the people close to him. And the worst thing about it: He knew it and yet he couldn't resist taking them into them.

With death looking him straight in the eye, he grabbed her hand. If she was going to die they had to murder him first. Or... change him into those living death corpses. Not really the most appealing way to spend your future, but much better than to regenerate and see Rose die. For the first time in his long life he thought that his cheating of death was not fair. He had always seen it as a right he had for being born his kind, but today he was reveiled to another perspective where he saw he was cheating on a very important game, named life.

Something had changed in those few minutes he was locked away from help, sitting next to Rose Tyler; so young in many ways. It was like a switch that had been turned on. Maybe... maybe it was telling him that dieing was something he should avoid no longer...

In the meantime he had promissed the girl that they would go down fighting. They would go down fighting together. She seemed to have faith in him. Not directly the I-know-you-will-save-us faith, but more a faith that told her that he would do anything to let them survive this. The Doctor grinned a little bit, while figuring her mind out like this. Figuring it out wasn't that hard. It took a bit of experience to tell what she was thinking. The ironic thing was that there might not be a 'them'. If there was someone to save, it was Rose. Not the Doctor; the grumpy old man, who tricked people in believing he was only in his begin fourties.

With a smile he looked at Rose. 'I'm so glad I met you.' It surprised him how true these words were. They were so powerful that he was afraid that he had betrayed himself by showing her to much of his emotions. But how did that matter, if they were going to die anyway? The real trouble would start if they would survive... The Doctor silently sighed; Now he wanted her to die, also? In his mind he nodded his head; This place was messing way to much with his mind.

'Me too.' Rose smiled at him and he could help but smiling back. He felt how, secretly, the temperature of his cheeks raised a little. In this sake, maybe it was better they were locked into a dungeon, where everything was cold and dark.

And then they were saved by the brilliance of an author's mind... But the Doctor was not saved yet. The most terrifying thing in his mind was still haunting him; the impact of Rose's excistance that was changing his mind in so many ways.


	3. Brave Rose

**Previously on Nine's World**

_With a smile he looked at Rose. 'I'm so glad I met you.' It surprised him how true these words were. They were so powerful that he was afraid that he had betrayed himself by showing her to much of his emotions. But how did that matter, if they were going to die anyway? The real trouble would start if they would survive... The Doctor silently sighed; Now he wanted her to die, also? In his mind he nodded his head; This place was messing way to much with his mind._

_'Me too.' Rose smiled at him and he could help but smiling back. He felt how, secretly, the temperature of his cheeks raised a little. In this sake, maybe it was better they were locked into a dungeon, where everything was cold and dark._

_And then they were saved by the brilliance of an author's mind... But the Doctor was not saved yet. The most terrifying thing in his mind was still haunting him; the impact of Rose's excistance that was changing his mind in so many ways._

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Finally... They were back in the TARDIS. After the Doctor had closed the door towards Dickens' last christmas, he turned around to see if Rose was still okay. He knew she wasn't, but she was so annoyingly stubborn in playing brave. She had just lost a friend; A friend he was unable to save. Rose had seen so much cruelty, that she must have been completely senseless if she wasn't about to break down in the end.

She looked at him as if she was indeed about to cry. But she still was this stubborn young humanbeing and kept her emotions hidden in soundless sobs. The mask that was covering all the thoughts, wandering through her head, made the Doctor almost feel guilty for watching her to finally break down.

With two big teary brown eyes she looked at him. In a small second he thought he saw her lower lip starting to tremble. But Rose quickly hid this by starting to talk.

'It's not fair!' Her voice was changing its pitch uncontrollable. There was a faint presence of anger in it, but it failed to translate the brand new rage, that burned inside of her correctly. The Doctor had seen this situation so many times before. The first too soon taken life burned everyone's passion to hate it for happening. Rose's anger was no exception.

'No, it's not.' the Doctor admitted. Sad thoughts made him turning his head towards the ground. He had lived to see so many people die; most of them as innocent victums of violence. How more he thought about it, how more it depressed him. Even in his age and experience, he was still not used to it. He doubted, and even hoped, he would never be. It hurted him so much to think about the innocent. Especially since he had destroyed both the Daleks as the Timelord race. Thinking about that nearly distroyed him mentally. He was the last of the Timelords and he was to blame. Both his hearts ached.

'Oh! I'm so sorry!' He heard how Rose came closer. Her hand touched his right cheek, as if she tried to calm him down. How much he hated himself now for telling his background earlier. It was her time to break down into splinters, and even that opportunity he was taking away from her. 'I should have thought about your losses...'

'It's nothing, really.' He tried to convince her. Ofcourse he thought of those losses, but Rose seemed to use that as an excuse to stand up brave. As if one loss wasn't enough to shatter into tears, if you compared it to what he had seen. She had all the reasons to break down, yet she tried to stay brave for him.

'It is.' She said, stubborn as the fragile young girl she was. Her eyes wandered sadly, observing the ground.

'Rose,' He took her chin in his hand and made her look at him. 'It's okay to cry.'

'I don't want to cry.' The girl muttered, her eyes avoiding to see the look on his face.

'You do.' He gently pushed her body against his. Softly he layed his other hand on her blond hair that decorated the side of her face. Her hands grabbed both his shoulders and with her head head pressed into his chest, she finally decided to shed her uncried tears.

* * *

'Kill me! Kill me!' Rose yelled hystericaly from her bedroom. The Doctor quickly looked up from his work on the TARDIS. His eyes were full of attention to what he just had heard. The screaming terrified him; What was going on?

With hasty big steps he walked towards the bedroom and grabbed his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. Whatever was hurting her, he had to punish. But how did it get on board of the Tardis?

He had no time to think this question over. He placed his big hand on the door and violently pushed it out of his way. And there he found her... sleeping.

Her bed was nothing more than a mess. The bedspread covered nothing more than a leg and a bit of her belly. In the white, silk-like pyjama she was wearing she looked like a sweet, little girl. The Doctor couldn't help it, but to sigh and shape his mouth into an adoring smile. He leaned against the doorframe he was standing in, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He watched her sleep; her chest going up and down, up and down. He smiled, knowing that she would never know of his presence in her room that night.

But then something changed. The doctor leaned a bit forwards in order to study her face better. Somehow he always opened his mouth a little when he did that. Just like he had catched her doing exactly the same thing when she was putting on her mascara.

The expression on her face was terrified. If he hadn't payed enough attention, he hadn't catched a small teardrop rolling to the side of her cheek. She was dreaming, but it wasn't a really nice one.

The feeling of guild made the Doctor place his hand on both her temples. He was about to intrude her mind, but with the noble thought to save her from her nightmare.

_'Kill me!'_ _Rose screamed towards the man that stood next to her. She layed on the ground, as if she was demonstrating. The man looked at her; his expression full of anger, but there also appeared to be a bit of fear. The man's face was dark; His lips had turned gray, and so had done his cheeks and the area around his eyes. Had he some kind of disease? The man moved something he was carrying in both of his hands. It was a gun, the doctor figured out. A gun that looked like those that he had seen on television, while Rose had been talking to Jackie in private._

_'Please kill me...' The poor girl muttered. She turned her head to the side to watch something, laying next to her. It didn't take long for him to realise it was him; the doctor. Blood escaped out of a hole that was created by an oldfashioned gunshot. Then he realised it: in this dream he was dead. Rose didn't know that he was able to survive this kind of damage for having two hearts; and it was her dream. So he had passed away by the hands of the sick monster. And she was willing, no, begging to die along._

_But why? She looked into his cold death eyes and the Doctor thought to see a faint reflection of her. Just for a second. The pink had turned gray, just like the male in front of her to whom she begged to kill her off. And she cried._

_Suddenly everything around her blurred... Her cheeks turned pink again and she was smiling. Was she remembering what already happened in her dream? What had happened?_


	4. Victory and Threat

**Previously on Nine's World**

'Please kill me...' The poor girl muttered. She turned her head to the side to watch something, laying next to her. It didn't take long for him to realise it was him; the doctor. Blood escaped out of a hole that was created by an oldfashioned gunshot. Then he realised it: in this dream he was dead. Rose didn't know that he was able to survive this kind of damage for having two hearts; and it was her dream. So he had passed away by the hands of the sick monster. And she was willing, no, begging to die along.

But why? She looked into his cold death eyes and the Doctor thought to see a faint reflection of her. Just for a second. The pink had turned gray, just like the male in front of her to whom she begged to kill her off. And she cried.

Suddenly everything around her blurred... Her cheeks turned pink again and she was smiling. Was she remembering what already happened in her dream? What had happened?

_///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////_

_There was a loud sound of happy shouting in the air. Everywhere the Doctor looked he saw people taking off a helmet-like kind of metal from their head, revealing their happy smiles. Somehow the costumes reminded him of the Cybermen. _Did Rose know about the Cybermen? But how would she? _The Doctor shook the thought of her knowing the Cybermen off. _It was simply a coincidence_. This, reminding him of something told more about him than it did about Rose. _

_'Good job, Doctor!' Rose grabbed both of his hands and smiled at him. He was confused; So now he walked around in the body of his dreamed self? Honestly, he _could _live with that. He smiled back. _

_'It's nothing.' He said shyishly, forced by the laws of her dream. _Hey! _the Doctor thought while he felt like grinning: _That's my copyright!

_'It is Doctor; It is.' Rose looked around to the people staring at them. 'You came up with the idea of infiltrating the robots by wearing these metal suits! That's how we destroyed them from the inside!'_

_'Fantastic!' The doctor turned his smile into this unique huge grin. It was one of the features he had to admit of loving most about the ninth regeneration; the smile. The ironic thing about what just had been said, was that he knew that it was the mind of Rose who had made up this brilliant plan and not him. Yet he got all the honour. _

_Slowly all the people walked away. Returning to the path they were walking before. And so did the Doctor. He walked away, leaving Rose behind. He couldn't understand it himself, or techniquely he couldn't understand the dream that moved him... the dreamt Doctor. Why was this dreamt Doctor leaving Rose, HIS Rose, behind? He would never do that! Or would he?_

_Quickly Rose ran after him. 'I'm going with you!' The Doctor looked around and saw how Mickey, who he hadn't noticed until this very moment, turned his face towards the ground. Now he understood; He had thought that she was better off left behind.. left behind with Mickey Mouse, or whatever pleased the Doctor to call the guy. And to be honest, it did sound like the way he reasoned his options. _

_Rose was just walking closer to him near him when all head turned to a scene close to them. A woman started making weird sounds, as if she was going to throw up. Her pink colours started to fade into gray, as if something turned out the sunlight for her. First it were the lips that switched from a coloured picture to an old grayscale photograph; quickly her cheeks followed. And her eyes looked at him; pierced him with an evil glare. Those were the eyes of a killer. The eyes of a coldblooded enemy. They eyes of an infected one. Whatever that had to mean, it somehow totally made sense to him._

_Quickly the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand. He didn't know if it was the dreamt Doctor who was doing this in the end, but it felt like an instict to flee with her; away from danger. It felt natural to _run_... _

_And so they started running. The Doctor quickly made them hide under the watersurface of this hidden ditch; their faces above the waterline to observe the area that could be intruded by the enemy. The water wasn't cold. It was more like swimming in a pool when it was raining; warm and somewhat comfortable, _if _you imagined the fish and waterplants not sharing the same water with you... But it all was for a good cause; their dreamt survival. The sick one might never think of people hiding there; in a disgusting canal of mut, water and unwanted organisms. _

_The weird sounds of the woman kept on going; now coming closer, as if she was moving to look for them. Rose's body shook of a second, in what the Doctor called a second of unwanted shown fear; a moment of shown weakness. But weakness wasn't a bad thing in his eyes. It was something human; a warning. _

_'Rose...' The Doctor whispered. 'Come here.' He raised his arms from the water and welcomed her into a comforting hug. He imagined how they both closed their eyes. Her chin rested on his shoulder; her arms wrapped around his chest. Her heartbeat lowered in pace; she felt more save in the arms of what the Doctor imagined to be her fatherfigure. The father she never had had. He was the father she had never had. It was his relief and yet his burden at the same time. How wrong was he to admit to himself that what he felt for her was more than being just a father? That he secretly hoped there _was _more?_

_Slowly he noticed how the sound had faded away. Rose tried to talk, but the Doctor silenced her. The disappearance of sound didn't have to mean the disappearance of the source. And so they both kept silent for many minutes before they got up from the slimy ditch._

_While Rose brushed the green material of her clothes, the Doctor looked at her; smiling. Without having heard a reason, she was willing to jump into ditches with him. No complaining at all, as if her policy was: Follow first, question later. _

_'Doctor?' She looked him in the eye. _Ah_, the Doctor thought, smiling his biggest smile: _stage two of her policy was now activated_. 'What was going on with her?'_

_'They knew you were there.' The Doctor explained. _

_'Who knew?' Rose looked at him as if she was in disbelief. 'The Cybermen? But we destroyed them in the end!'_

_The Doctor wasn't able to say one single word in a couple of seconds. Had she just said the therm __**Cyberman**__?! All he could do was gasping. What was it with this dream? How could she have ever known? The shock that paralysed him from speaking slowly lost his grip on him: 'Yes, the Cybermen. They were aware of your presence. They injected her in order to change all of you into these shadowlike monsters. That's the worst of the whole venom; It makes you want to inject everyone around you too.' The Doctor left a sigh. 'But the venow changed her to late. The very purpose of it's existance is now gone; to protect the Cybermen from being defeated. And now it threatens the whole existance of human kind!' _


	5. Swinging

_**Previously on Nine's World**_

The Doctor wasn't able to say one single word in a couple of seconds. Had she just said the therm **Cyberman**?! All he could do was gasping. What was it with this dream? How could she have ever known? The shock that paralysed him from speaking slowly lost his grip on him: 'Yes, the Cybermen. They were aware of your presence. They injected her in order to change all of you into these shadowlike monsters. That's the worst of the whole venom; It makes you want to inject everyone around you too.' The Doctor left a sigh. 'But the venow changed her to late. The very purpose of it's existance is now gone; to protect the Cybermen from being defeated. And now it threatens the whole existance of human kind!_'_

_///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////_

_Rose decided it was better to go back where it all had started. However the Doctor was a bit skeptical about the plan, he decided it would be the best idea to come up with in a situation like this. Maybe they would find more survivors in order to get help. The Doctor agreed and slowly they walked to where they had came from. _

_While the sun warmed them and slowly dried their clothings, the both of them tried not to think of the threat that was hiding all around them; the threat of loosing humankind. _

_Unprepared by any signs, the Doctor felt how Rose took his hand into hers. A little bit confused he looked at the two attached hands and then looked at her face. At first he reasoned that it was her way to feel a little more comfortable in times of danger and threat. But when her eyes connected with his all he could see was her face; smiling brightly at him. _

_However it still confused him when she reached for his hand to hold, it was something he was slowly getting used to. Even in the real world they tended to touch each other regularly. It was harmless, really. One time they held each others hands, while the other time he hugged her in order to comfort her a little. However it was claimed to be harmless, it frightened him a little. He wondered why it felt so naturally. He wondered why he felt things; things that made him smile but at the same time scared the hell out of him. But if both Rose and he didn't cross his line, he was okay with it. Holding hands and hugging each other to make one feel better was something that humanfriends often did, right? _

_And that was what they were; just friends. No other feelings_. Good,_ the Doctor thought; _That was settled. He thought nothing more of her than to be just a friend.

_Finally they walked out of the woods, being led to the lawn where it all had started. Well, finally was a big word. In Doctor's case he would almost claim it to be the complete opposite of what he meant. Somehow he would have enjoyed being alone with his friend for at least a couple more minutes. _

_But still enjoying her presence, he swung Rose's hand from in front of them to the back. And then reversing the movement into the opposite direction. He smiled; the angles of his mouth reached higher on his face, causing the appearance of two deep lines in his flesh. Each line departed from one side of his nose, to end up joining one of the mouth angles. The smile uncovered his white teeth in a way, he could only describe as the smile of an guinea-pig; showing almost nothing more than his front teeth. _

_But Rose didn't seem to care about the resemblance of a guinea-pig. As they both looked into each other's eyes he thought to see her smile grow even more; A gleam of happiness appeared in her eye. One that the Doctor could not combine with the danger that was waiting for them. It was as if she was enjoying being only with him just as much as he was enjoying being just with her. _As a friend of course, _the Doctor reminded himself. _A best friend maybe_. _

_Somewhere at the back of the lawn there were humans gathered in front of a shop he hadn't seen before. Rose ran towards them, leaving the grip of her hand around his. The Doctor silently sighed, not allowing himself to even think of the fact that inside he felt a little disappointed or even... broken. When she started hugging them, for the happy fact they were still among humankind, he brieftly looked away._

_In the corner of his eye he was still watchfully following her actions and the actions around her. She always seemed, unintended however, to get her nose sticked into dangerous businiss. And somehow, probably caused by the fact stated before, he felt sort of protective of her._

_Almost immediately he felt like something wasn't quite alright. His big ears caught the sound of a brief choke, as if the hugging almost caused someone to gasp for its breath. _

_With the speed of sound the Doctor pierced his eyes on Rose. While she was hugging one of the male beings, the Doctor witnessed how the male's lips came near her shoulders; his grey, cold lips. His eyes looked at him; at the Doctor, and they smiled. His eyes smiled evilly and his lips soon followed, showing the Doctor its previously hidden white carnivore teeth._

_'Rose! No!' The Doctor forced his legs to move right into action as soon as he even had seen a glance of the grey colour covering its face. With, maybe, a little to much force he grabbed Rose's arm to pull her away from the animal. He started running with Rose being chained to his arm, not knowing if she even ran with him or he just dragged her along._

_'Doctor...'she muttered, without lowering their pace of running. Had she really no idea of what was going on? Where he saved her from? Where he pulled her away from? _

_'Rose, the virus has adapted itselves. I didn't believe in the possibility of adapting this fast, but it did! It did, Rose! It stopped announcing their victums that they were coming! The man you hugged; The man with the pink cheeks and pretty eyes changed behind your back! He was infected, Rose!' The Doctor kept holding her hand while they were still running to get away from the area that the virus ruled in. _

_It wasn't until Rose cried out his name that he stopped running for the first time in minutes: 'Doctor!'_

_The Doctor turned around to see her face. She was crying, muttering the words _I am sorry_. It was that moment he saw it on her face; In the time they had been running her pretty pink features had turned grey. _

_The Doctor, on the edge of breaking down, glared at her shoulder. All he could see was the red, opened skin; the bitemarks of a monster. He tried to force himself not to give in to admit the inconvenient truth: She was indeed infected..._


	6. Lost

**Previously on Nine's World:**

It wasn't until Rose cried out his name that he stopped running for the first time in minutes: 'Doctor!'

The Doctor turned around to see her face. She was crying, muttering the words I am sorry. It was that moment he saw it on her face; In the time they had been running her pretty pink features had turned grey.

The Doctor, on the edge of breaking down, glared at her shoulder. All he could see was the red, opened skin; the bitemarks of a monster. He tried to force himself not to give in to admit the inconvenient truth: She was indeed infected...

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_'No, no, no!' he started muttering. 'This is not happening! No, Rose! Not my Rose!' Tears blurred his sight even before he took her in his arms. He hugged her as if he tried to protect her from what she had become. Little creeks of water wandered from his eyes to his chin. _

_This feeling of loss was real. It hurted him from the inside. Pain spread from his two hearts; aching. Unable to seperate fiction from reality. _

_'Oh, Rose...'he kept on muttering. She couldn't be gone! She just couldn't! She wasn't allowed to leave him this soon! She wasn't allowed to leave him... ever! Not after she made his life feel usefull once again! He tightened his grip around her, as if he wanted her to know that he would never let her go. _

_'I will not bite you.'Rose said. He looked at her face and saw even more tears appearing in her eyes. _

_He wanted to say millions of things to her in response. About how he didn't care if she bit him or not. About how he even thought he would rather die by her hands than to live on; knowing what had become of her. But all he could say was: 'Of course you will not.' He placed his cool lips on top of her head and caressed her blond hair. 'Of course not.'_

_It was then he heard a loud cough appearing out of nowhere. The first thing the Doctor saw was Rose's terrified face looking at him, before he slowly turned around. _

_And there he stood. The man with the gun in his hand. And he pointed it at him. Just like his eyes, also pierced on him; giving away a little of his disbelief. But disbelieve for what? That he hadn't changed yet? _

_'No! No! No!' Rose yelled on top of her lungs, saying nothing more than that single word. It was as if her language had abandoned her in times of need. And even now she seemed to have enough tears to shed; crying even louder than she ever had before. Louder then he had ever thought possible._

_'He is the Doctor,' The grey man explained: 'Therefore he must die. He has to die.' How could it be that every single enemy, he had ever fought against, were always so annoyingly unoriginal and way too easy in their reasoning? It was as if it was their explanation; their motive to everything: _He is the Doctor_. _

_'But why?' Rose cried. 'Why did you have to shoot him? He could have been locked up! But why kill him?'_

_Suddenly everything cleared up in his mind. The fog that had filled his head had finally disappeared. _

_Carefully the Doctor touched his back and everything finally made sense. The cough hadn't been a real cough, of course. It had been the sound of a triggered gun; echoing in his ears. A sound, modifyed by his own sense organ. _

_And this; he brought his hand back to his face to study it; this was his blood. It was his blood; leaving him since his body started dying. Blood; flowing away, knowing it was unnecessary to stay. _

_He looked up at Rose and placed his hand on her right cheek. Somehow it did calm her. Her eyes were pinned on his face; waiting for him to say something. The Doctor smiled. The guinea-pig smile. He didn't have the power to form the huge grin on his face anymore. And then he spoke: 'It's okay for me to die now. I'm the last of my kind. I've lived a long life. Longer than you can possibly imagine. It's okay for me to die.'_

_He saw how more tears ran down her face as she embraced his waist to support him. Slowly he felt how his energy escaped him. As if he was getting tired he blinked. And to be honest; he did get a little tired. Somehow he longed for a sweet little nap._

_His hand slided down her face, leaving the drawing of red fingers behind. And then he collapsed. His face fell on her shoulder; seeing how her other shoulder was engaged by his arm. He was still smiling when Rose led him towards the ground. _

_She started to shout at the sick one, but the Doctor couldn't tell what she was saying. He imagine her to yell and use cursing words. But then he knew it; She was asking him to let her die!_

_It took moments before he heard another cough. It was then, he understood why it had taken the sick one so long to finally pull the trigger. Even this new kind of monstrous beings couldn't kill their own species. However they were barbarians, they cared for their kind. In some ways they were better than the Doctor. He hadn't tried to care for his people in a long time. All _he_ wanted to do, was to forget..._

_And there she layed next to him; the one woman he had truely cared about in such a long time. Her red blood, finding its way to his. She turned her face to him and said: 'I'm okay with dieing too.' She smiled at him for the last time and then she was gone..._

And so was the dream. The Doctor rapidly opened his eyes. He was confused. His head felt like spinning and for a split second he thought they were really dead. But then he heard the moaning right in front of him. She was waking up.

'Rose...' He answered the sound, fearing the fact that his presence was revealed. Or better said; fearing the response he would get when she finally discovered his presence. He wanted to flee, but he was sure of the fact that she somehow already knew. He felt that it was better he somehow explained everything to her, excluding the intrusion of her mind, than to flee like someone that was guilty without question.

'Doctor!' Rose squealed while she blinked her eyes a few times. 'What are you doing here? Who do you think you are?'

'I'm me. That's quite obvious.' A shyish smile covered his face. 'But that's not the question, is it?'

'I know who you are!' Rose yelled angrily while she threw her cushion to his face. 'Or no... In matter of fact. I do NOT know who you **are**! Get out of here!'

* * *

**What do you think? Continue? **

**If you think so; please _Review._**

**Because if there aren't any readers... I shouldn't set up this Treasure Hunt I made up for you all! **

**That's right, I want you to participate in my story! See it as this: I write the story; you find the clues = The Treasure Hunt. **

**Got interested? If so: Let me please know**


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